Tree branch holder



K. V- CRONIN TREE BRANCH HOLDER May 8, 1962 Filed April '7, 1959 INVENTOR.

KEYHZEE Y VI ZOA YQQ CFOJVJJV' United States Patent 3,033,504 TREE BRANCH HOLDER Kathleen Veronica Cronin, 5019 42nd St., Long Island City 4, N.Y. Filed Apr. 7, 1959, Ser. No. 804,692 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-42) This invention relates to brackets and, more particularly, to a bracket for decorating trees.

Sparse areas or gaps in trees, such as Christmas trees, make it diflicult to properly shape and decorate such trees with ornaments. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a bracket that may be readily attached to the trunk of any tree in the sparse area thereof, for attaching an extra branch to -fill in such gap for the purpose of improving the appearance of the tree and facilitating the decoration thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for attaching extra branches to the trunk of a Christmas tree in a natural and realistic manner.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a bracket of the type described that can be manufactured in large quantities at a relatively low cost, and which can be applied to the trunk of a tree without any special skill or equipment.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a study of the following specification, taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a bracket made in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the manner in which the extra branch is assembled with the bracket;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a bracket made in accordance with the present invention in actual use.

Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2 thereof, a bracket made in accordance with the present invention is shown to include a substantially cylindrical sleeve 12 having an end wall 14 at one extremity extending obliquely to the longitudinal access of the sleeve. This end wall 14 has a central opening 16 for receiving a fastener therethrough in a manner hereinafter more fully described. The opposite end of the sleeve 12 is provided with the plurality of circumr ferentially spaced apart longitudinal slots 18 that divide that end of the sleeve into a plurality of segments.

As is clearly shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawing, each segment at the open end of the sleeve 12 is provided with a pair of radially inwardly projecting pointed flange elements 20 that partially close that end of the sleeve,

In applying the bracket to the trunk 24 of the tree, the screw 22 may be driven into securing engagement with the tree trunk by a flexible shaft-typescrew driver, so as to maintain it in the properly disposed upwardly and outwardly inclined position illustrated in FIGURE 3. An extra branch 26 is then inserted into the open end of the sleeve and the pointed segments 20 pressed into securing engagement with the side of the branch to retain it in place.

It will now be recognized that any number of these brackets may be secured to the tree to fll in all of the bare or sparse areas, thus enhancing the appearance of the tree and making it easier to decorate.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to the construction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such is not to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, which is best defined by the claim appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A bracket for securing additional branches to the trunk of a decorative tree comprising, in combination, a substantially rigid sleeve, a Wall, said wall closing one end of said sleeve and having mounting means integral therewith for attachment to the trunk of a tree, the opposite end of said sleeve being open for slidably receiving a separate branch therewithin, said sleeve comprising a substantially hollow cylindrical member, said opposite end of said sleeve including a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart and longitudinally extending slots dividing said opposite end of said sleeve into a plurality of individual segments, said wall closing said one end of said sleeve lying in a plane extending obliquely to the longitudinal axis of said sleeve, and said mounting means comprising a center aperture in said wall, and a screw rotatably received within said aperture, and a plurality of radially inwardly extending pointed flanges integral with the outermost end of each one of said sleeve segments at said opposite end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 585,486 Snow June 29, 1897 1,540,637 Kratzel June 2, 1925 1,792,629 Butler Feb. 17, 1931 2,126,457 East Aug. 9, 1938 2,169,965 Niedermaier Aug. 15, 1939 2,669,181 Cooper et a1 Feb. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 210,056 Switzerland June 15, 1940 

